Petrochemical Giant Cross Border Fresh Electricity Supplier Behind: Business Pressure Forced To Change The Gas Station

During the epidemic, Sinopec set up a selling vegetable business.

"Actually driving a car to a gas station will be more convenient." Mr. Liu, who lives in a residential district in Beijing, told the twenty-first Century business reporter. "Every purchase during the epidemic season needs to buy a lot of vegetables. On the one hand, it is necessary to increase unnecessary contact risks. On the one hand, if the quantity is large, it is not very convenient to carry it. It is better to drive from the garage to the gas station."

The data provided by Sinopec also indirectly confirm this: since the establishment of the vegetable business in February 15th, by the end of February, 450 gas stations in the Beijing region of Sinopec have opened related businesses, with an average daily sales volume of about 3000. The initial figures were 340 gas stations, 600 boxes per day, and sales volume rose 5 times in two weeks.

And the takeover business is not the only one in SINOPEC.

As of the end of February, PetroChina has launched a one-stop and non contact service in Liaoning, Qinghai, Beijing, Guizhou, Gansu and Hebei provinces. Shell, the largest foreign gas station in China, has also launched its selling service in Tianjin, Beijing, Shandong and Hebei. The BP petrol station, which has just started two years in China, has also opened its marketing service in Sichuan Province.

Coupled with the start of the 2019, the gas stations have launched the coffee business and so on, their "crossover" gradually became the norm. As the largest preposition in China, gas station convenience stores seem to be stepping out of their stereotypes.

Why cross boundary?

The so-called "gas station crossover" itself is not new.

As early as 2010, Sinopec launched its own wolfberry brand, Ningxia wolfberry, "Guo Qi Tian Xiang". After that, Sinopec opened its own cross-border road: liquor, canned water, paper towels, fast food, coffee and fresh to the present.

From the stage, the early "crossover" is more biased towards its own products. The most successful case is Lai Mau Maotai liquor, which is cooperating with Guizhou Moutai group. In 2018, its sales volume was 1 billion 400 million yuan, and its sales volume exceeded 1 billion 800 million yuan in 2019. It became the one billion grade liquor brand of Moutai group.

However, starting from the 2016 Yi Jie Hai's cross-border e-commerce platform and the yifi global commodity Museum, the Sinopec reconsidered the positioning of the easyJet brand, focusing on the idea of integrating the online, offline and offline platforms, focusing more on services rather than upgrading products.

As a result, the coffee business and the fresh food business launched this year are cross boundary businesses under the continuation of this idea. However, behind the seemingly fresh and interesting cross-border, there is still a trace of helplessness.

Beginning in 2015, international oil prices experienced a sharp decline, from nearly 140 US dollars per barrel to less than 40 US dollars per barrel in 2016. For energy security considerations, the state set up the floor price, maintained and increased the corresponding taxes and fees of refined oil, resulting in a sharp decline in gross profit of refined oil.

To add insult to injury, the approval of new petrol stations has almost stagnated since 2016, and the stock resources become more and more precious with the increase of urbanization rate. However, the consumption of China's refined oil products has gradually reached the peak, and annual consumption of gasoline and diesel has been growing faster and slower.

Under the internal and external attack, expanding the sales volume of non oil consumer goods has become a common problem of all gas stations in China, including PetroChina and Sinopec.

"Compared with refined oil, whether fresh, coffee or other consumer goods, consumption frequency and profit margins are significantly higher." An insider told reporters, "the cost of a cup of coffee is also a few yuan, can sell more than a dozen or even more than 20, but the petrol, the profit per ton is almost 1300 yuan, enough to fill up nearly 200 cars."

He told reporters that a car may add oil once a week, and the consumption frequency of canned water, coffee and fresh food is theoretically far higher than that of oil consumption. What's more, since the outbreak of the new crown this year, the consumption of refined oil has fallen off cliff. Taking Sinopec as an example, its finished product dropped by 12.7% over the same period last year.

"Although the service of selling vegetables is essentially a service for the convenience of the people, it helps people to make fresh purchases more conveniently during the epidemic," he said. "But objectively speaking, all gas stations are faced with very large operating pressure."

Will it continue until the end of the epidemic?

As of press release, PetroChina and Sinopec have not indicated to reporters that fresh selling is a continuous business.

BP, the head of the sales section of gas station, told reporters that the sale of fresh products was a business planned from the beginning of their entry into China, but only in a relatively special time frame. "In the future, we will continue to sell fresh produce, including vegetables, fruits and so on." He said.

He told reporters that, including BP, a large gas station chain brand, fresh, coffee and so on in foreign countries is a regular commodity category. According to the public information released by reporters, the sales of non oil products accounted for more than 50% in overseas filling stations. In Australia, the coffee brand of BP gas station was once one of the best selling coffee in the locality.

Another international oil giant, Holland Royal Shell group's preferred convenience store, can sell 250 million cups of coffee a year. Its executive vice president and retail chief, Ke Yi fan, once regrets that coffee has a much higher profit margin than oil. Behind this phenomenon is the difference in consumption habits between Chinese consumers and foreign consumers.

In Europe and the United States, convenience stores, gas stations and automobile culture accompany with each other. In the early stage of oil sales, its essence is a kind of retail product, which is sold as a product of convenience retailers. In China, convenience stores are more like gas stations.

"The epidemic is actually an opportunity for all gas station practitioners." The industry insiders told reporters, "gas station format needs some changes, so that consumers realize that the goods you can buy at the gas station are actually rich and varied, and the service to the vehicle also makes the consumption of the gas station scene more convenient."

And in the head of BP Sales Department, the change brought by the epidemic is gradually emerging. "Consumers are very satisfied with the way of service such as delivery and fresh sales." He said, "I believe that in the future, more products will be available for sale at gas stations, and manufacturers will pay more and more attention to this channel."

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